May 28, 2005

Ford Quits

State Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, Tennessee's first blogging legislator, reports that state Sen. John Ford, indicted Thursday on a variety of serious federal corruption charges, has resigned. Blogging state Sen. Roy Herron, D-Dresden, has some thoughts on his blog about a stunning final week in legislative session. He also discusses that secret meeting of the Senate Finance Committee in which he participated, a meeting that violated Senate rules.

UPDATE: The Tennessean reports that Ford quit the Senate shortly before being tossed out:

Ford's resignation comes just as the Senate's Ethics Committee was preparing a six-count complaint against the Memphis senator that almost certainly would have lead to his impeachment.

"We would have had the votes to oust Sen. Ford from office," Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, said. Ramsey also said the ethics committee, which he chairs, came to this decision after months of research and hundreds of interviews.